In humans, vascular disorders include headaches including wine headaches, migraine headaches and associated conditions. Typically migraines are a headache which can be characterised by a prodromal aura, unilateral onset, photophobia, severe pain, and autonomic disturbances during the acute phase, which may last for hours or days.
According to recent International Headache Society definitions, migraine can be divided into two broad clinical groups; migraine with typical aura and migraine without typical aura. The commonest clinical group being migraine without aura. Most patients with this form of migraine are women and many experience menstrual attacks. Migraine sufferers are acutely aware of their unpredictable unreliability and frequently avoid making social arrangements that they are scared they may be unable to fulfil, and on numerous occasions, rather than to be seen to let their colleagues down, many migraine sufferers prefer to tough it out and turn up at work, but often do not perform very competently.
Generally, the tendency to have migraine attacks is inherited and sufferers vary in the frequency of their attacks. Many have only one or two attacks a year and these usually result in a temporary social or work hiccup. Perhaps 10-15% of women experience one or more attacks per month and because of their unpredictability and the resulting unreliability, or reduction in competence of the sufferer, this group of patients experience substantial disruption to their activities.
There are two main forms or treatments used to counter the attacks. One is to take regular medication, trying to prevent the occurrence of the more severe unpleasant type of attack. The other is trying to treat such attacks as they occur, using either simple pain killers or specific anti-migraine treatments which are directed at the actual migraine process, attempting to stop individual attacks as soon as possible after onset.